Kurdish activist on death row to be executed within 48 hours: Brother
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Informed sources have told the family of a Kurdish activist on death row that his execution is imminent. This comes a day after a video of the person in question surfaced in which he rejects the charges against him.
“It is likely that tonight or tomorrow night, the death sentence of political activist… Ramin Hossein Panahi is carried out,” a social media post by Ramin’s brother, Amjad Hossein Panahi, read.
Amjad and his family have been actively engaged with lawyers and activists to stop the Iranian regime’s plan to carry out the execution.
Iran has not officially declared the date the execution is set to take place, but various rights groups believe it is highly likely to happen in September.
In April 2018, Iran’s Supreme Court ratified Ramin’s death sentence for his alleged membership to the “outlawed” Kurdish nationalist group, Komala, and for supposedly drawing a weapon on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) agents during clashes.
Earlier, Amjad told Kurdistan 24 that Ramin had gone on hunger strike in the Rajaei-Shahr prison in Iran’s Karaj city. He was transferred from Sanandaj to the new location in mid-August.
Ramin appeared in a short video on Monday. In a hoarse voice, he thanked the people of Kurdistan and Iran, in general, for their staunch support of him.
“I would like to deny charges claiming I am a terrorist,” he added.
فوری
— Amjad Hossein Panahi (@amjad_panahi) September 2, 2018
رامین حسین پناهی فعال سیاسی کُرد محکوم به اعدام در پیامی تصویری ضمن تشکر از عموم مردم، ادعای های رژیم را تکذیب می کند
این پیغام ده روز پیش ضبط شده https://t.co/Nw84VxqqYB pic.twitter.com/DDhuc5xxUd
Meanwhile, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), an opposition faction in Turkey, held a peaceful protest in Ankara near the Iranian Embassy, urging the immediate halt of the imminent execution.
Turkish police responded with force and tried to disperse the protest even beating one of the participants.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
